I landed in Beijing the 23rd of August 2017. When I took my first steps in the Forbidden City all I could see was a blurred image of something I remembered from looking at photographs on books and online. For the first time, despite being an experienced traveller, I faced a severe cultural shock.

At first, the sound of the hands moving the bathroom curtain was so loud that was almost disturbing. And so was the noise coming out of the karaoke bars during the night and the chitchatting of the people walking on the sidewalk. Sometimes you observe and sometimes you’re being observed. It’s almost like seeing through a glass that distorts what your eyes see, that makes the light flicker in front of you second after second and inserts you in a completely different world. And suddenly you are on the other side of that glass. You cannot hear what others say but you can feel the sweet cuddle of the water that surrounds you.And then, before I knew it, that sound of the hands moving the bathroom curtains became a lullaby. The noise of the karaoke bars turned into music and the chitchatting evolved into rhythm. Everything became gentle, even the unknown.